


South of the Moon, East of the Sun

by Velocity_Owl87



Series: Loup!Verse [17]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Domestic, M/M, Metamorphosis, Slice of Life, Survival, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-17
Updated: 2013-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-08 18:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/764720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And the world ended, and it wasn't all the same and yet, five groups of shifters find they face the same problems despite the distances and physical limitations between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	South of the Moon, East of the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> This is another entry in my dystopian AU. I had the mental image of a man with a WWII rifle in my mind and the set of stories kind of came out of that. I was also prompted to write after I was asked what was going on with the rest of the shifters in the Loup! verse. So this anthology came about. 
> 
> I've been teaching geography and the fairytale is one of my favourites, hence the title.

_Savonlinna_

Jonas had been left in the cabin with Claude. Tuukka liked to hunt alone when he had to go hunting and they were too skittish to accompany him. Jonas had never been one to spend hours in the forest tracking and Claude was too distracted by Jonas’ scent to be a good hunting partner. So he had gone out alone and prayed that he would get lucky today.

He had sent Jonas and Claude foraging and fishing to at least get something in the house if he couldn’t even bag a rabbit. At least they were lucky in that they were the only shapeshifters in the area. Finland didn’t have a big population to start with. The incident had made it even more so.

He raised the rifle, an old relic that had been on the mantle for as long as he could remember and looked through the sights. Although his vision was good, he still needed to focus. Killing prey as a human is much more different than killing as a Susi. He couldn’t do it now though. Not when Jonas was around. And they needed food. He had to find at least a reindeer to last them a few more months until they could travel to the Saamilands.

Their pack was done and even though it galled him to ask for help, he had no choice. The links with the Swedes were down and he couldn’t even begin to figure out where they could find the Varg and the court. Whatever had happened to destroy the world had also hurt them as a side effect. They were alone and with no ties or movement. It was too dangerous still, to venture out of what was now the only territory that they knew.

People were desperate. Other shifters were desperate. He only had Jonas and Claude left. He was damned if he would let anything happen to them. That was why he was swallowing his pride and getting ready to go up north. A pack was always better. He understood that and was willing to make any sacrifice for that to happen.

So he would wait with Jonas and Claude until the spring thaw would start and hunt.

He took a deep breath and closed one eye when he saw the buck in his sights.

He couldn’t afford to miss, he told himself right before pulling the trigger and dropping the buck in the snow.

_Jamtland_

Joel has not come back yet, from Lappland. He had taken Nicklas and a few others in an effort to renew the old alliances before the world had collapsed. The packs were scattered and many of them were mute and afraid. No one knew what else to do other than survive in the frigid Norrlands. Life was a struggle and with the delay of spring, even more so. They needed help and Joel had gone to fetch that help.

But he hadn’t come back and Henke was worried.

“He’s been gone a month. He will come back.” Sid had reassured him as they had lain in the nest with their pups while they listened to the storms rage outside. They were hoping it was the last snow of the season, but Forsberg had frowned and shook his head. He knew how the winters were and he had said that this one was not the norm. He didn’t say anything else though, out of not wanting to raise hopes or drive the rest into despair. They couldn’t lose anyone else. Not when they didn’t know how many of them had actually survived.

“He’s the varg. He will be fine.” Sid had comforted him, running his fingers through his hair and tucking it behind his ears. Henke sighed and moved closer, the pups squeaking out their displeasure at being hemmed in between their sire and mother.

“He’s too faint for me to sense, Sid.” Henke explained quietly. “All this time, all this distance and I cannot sense him or know where he is. Or if he’s even alive.”

He closed his eyes and sighed.  “And I know that it is much worse for you and I hate myself for even complaining. He is in the same area. Your family is across an ocean.”

Sid nodded before he moved forward to press his forehead against his mate's in comfort, since no matter what other things he could say, they both knew that words wouldn’t ease the acute sense of loss Henke was facing. Nor would it ease the loss of his family either.

They lay like that for the rest of the night until they both drifted off with the howls of the storm in the background.

_Samara_

It was cold and desolate like he had read about and understood. He didn’t want to be here, but he had no choice. There was simply no reliable way to get to Moscow. Everything was down or required heavy bartering and payment that he simply couldn’t afford. The irony of it all struck him as hilarious when he wasn’t on the verge of crying at how ridiculous everything now was.  He was rich, had millions in the bank, but all the paper notes were worthless. Not even the paper that had been used to print them meant anything anymore.

He sighed and squinted up at the deep blue sky with the hazy sun in the middle of it, above the heavy cover of pines that remained. He watched them, his mind blank and empty as he tried to not let the overwhelming despair encroach in his thoughts and make him useless again. They needed each other to survive out there and all of them had agreed from the beginning that death was the last thing that they would let take them.

“How is the day looking for fishing? You think you can do it?” Semyon asked him, making Sasha turn around and frown at him.

“If you teach me, then I think I can, Syoma.” He replied quietly, feeling embarrassed for once about his Moscow upbringing. What had been a sense of pride in the past was a point of weakness now and they both knew it. But at least Syoma was patient with him. More so than he would have been if the tables had been turned and he knew it all too well.

Syoma shrugged and looked up at the sun. He still didn’t know how the other volk did that, looked at the sun straight on without squinting or closing his eyes. It was just like how he could see in the dark with no problems and had ended up going out to salvage or hunt in the dead of night.

“We have a few hours yet. We can do something in them.” Syoma replied, turned his head and showing Sasha the extra lids he now possessed. Thick, opaque things that disappeared the moment he wasn’t facing the sun directly.

Sasha worked his jaw a bit before he blew out a breath.

“So should we start?”

_Pacific Northwest_

“How long has it been raining now?” Danny asked Carey as they lay in the pallet that served as their bed and watched the rain drizzle down into the trees and turn the scenery misty like a watercolour painting. Carey shrugged and then rested his chin on his mate’s shoulder.

“A week so far, I think. It does that sometimes, just makes everything greener. Sucks about the smoking though. We could have already gotten a batch done if it wasn’t for the rain.” Carey commented, pulling Danny closer and burying his nose in the back of his neck.

Danny made an unintelligible noise in the back of his throat and pressed his back into Carey’s warm chest. Despite the damp and coolness of the day, Carey and the warm blanket that they had traded for didn’t make him mind it too much. But the rain meant that they were trapped indoors and there was so much to do.  The Haida on the shore had told them that the spring and summer would be short and gave them the warning to get ready for the winter if they were to stay in the Plateau.

“Or you could always join us, you know?” The Chief had asked, looking pointedly at Carey as he animatedly spoke with some of the women they were trading with. Danny had smiled and nodded his head, but had seethed inside the whole time afterward.

He had to admit that was why he had taken Carey so forcefully that night and marked that pretty expanse of pale skin with his bites and finger-shaped bruises.  It had taken a few days for them to heal and Carey hadn’t said anything. Just submitted under him as if he had forgotten who the Alpha in the bond was.

“We can still get the salmon ready. The rest we can trade. They said that they would come around next week. Probably will try and convince us to join them again.”

Danny replied, his tone distracted as he squinted out the window. It didn’t look as misty as it had a few hours back and it also looked like there were other beings in the forest. He tensed up and Carey immediately was on guard.

“What do you see?” He asked, his posture still relaxed, but the sudden stilling telling Danny that if anything was to happen, Carey would be ready to meet it head on.

“There are others out there.” He murmured, moving away from his mate and pushing the blanket away. He shivered slightly, but kept the charade of getting up in case the beings he had seen earlier were watching and trying to decide the best way to proceed.

He moved away and went to the pump and sink at the window.  He took a cup and hefted it, testing the weight of it and waited.  He heard shuffling behind him, but didn’t look. He knew, instinctively that Carey had gotten into position. It was just a matter of time.

Sure enough, the beings he had seen earlier moved into the clearing. There were only three of them and they were dressed in rain coats, with their hoods pulled forward and bandanas hiding their faces. They walked with purpose and had their hands up to signal that they came unarmed.

At the sight, he lowered the cup and waited until he heard Carey move forward. It wasn’t time to shift. Not yet. Especially not if they didn’t know if these were humans and if they were as unarmed as they indicated that they were.

“What do you want?” Carey asked, stepping outside in bare feet and jeans, his tone matter of fact and carrying across the clearing. He didn’t need anything else to show his dominance. He was on his own land and he was an Alpha. If they tried anything, he would destroy them.

There were a few tense moments when no one moved, making Danny count the seconds and wonder whether he should shift and jump in as backup to his mate. The seconds passed in painful slowness and it had just been when he had decided to do a partial shift when one of the figures lowered his hands and pulled off the bandana and lowered his hood, making Carey take a step back in surprise.

“Shane?”

_The Canadian Shield_

Patrick took the last cup of chicory coffee out to the deck and sat on the dock with his feet dangling in the water. The cold didn’t bother him and he felt cleaner with the water lapping over his legs. It wasn’t anything that he could really explain, but it made him feel better. Just like the quiet in his head.  Despite everything going to hell, it was finally quiet in his head for the first time since that long ago winter. He was relieved, but he wouldn’t ever say anything out loud to Tazer.

Tazer. Patrick smiled as he took a sip of the chicory. It wasn’t his favourite, but that was all they could get, being so far away from the few cities that had survived the…whatever the hell it was that happened.

One day, the world had been spinning along, the next…He didn’t like to think about it. He just knew that it had been bad. Things had changed all over and he knew that many had died that day. He shied away from thinking about the deaths. There was no reliable way to get word out and he didn’t dare hope or worry whether his family had come out of this alive. He wanted to think that they were some of the few that had and that was good enough for him.

Before, they had seen some people passing by, despite their cabin being so isolated. Now, they were lucky if they saw anyone in months. Only Tazer’s brother and his dad came out regularly, but most of the time, they were left by themselves.

“It’s too early to be out here, even for you.”

Patrick turned around to see Tazer frowning at him, holding the other tinware mug that they had, steam still rising from the top as he stood there in jeans and a t-shirt despite the early spring. Tazer had changed also. He was more immune to the cold and he made Patrick nervous sometimes.

Patrick smiled and shrugged, his ears folding flat against his skull as he looked out at the water.

“The cabin was too close. I needed to get out and you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Tazer frowned and sat down with a thump, wincing when his tail got pinned underneath him. He growled and shifted, letting it free. Patrick snorted and shook his head. Tazer still hadn’t gotten the hang of his tail being a permanent part of him. Patrick at least could hold that over him. His tail was well behaved and his claws only came out when he was truly agitated. But the ears were still a problem.

“Your dad and your brother came by yesterday and left the chicory and milk.” Patrick stated casually as he drank down the bitter coffee substitute that could only be cut so much with powdered milk. He wished he had sugar, but he had heard from the remaining Toews that it was dearer than gold now. He wished it wasn’t so.

Tazer shrugged and drank his chicory, as stoic as ever.

“I told them no, as always. They then told me that they’d be back in two weeks.” Patrick added, making Tazer nod his agreement before putting his cup down. Patrick saw the gesture and followed suit. Tazer sighed and Patrick leaned against him, resting his head on his mate’s shoulder, neither of them speaking as they watched the strange new sunrise of vivid pinks and corals light up the pale grey sky. They sat like that until Tazer pressed a kiss on Patrick’s forehead and then on his mouth, tasting the chicory and too heavy milkiness in his mouth and tongue.

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. None of this is.”

End.

 


End file.
